Farm & Home Plans

Science & Tech Plans

Vintage Articles Plans

Site Info Plans

Build a Wooden Long Bow Plans

These Popular Mechanics plans are for a wooden long bow, or a flat bow, and include arrow making information.

Whether you try for perfect archery target shooting, or take your archery
with a dash of small game hunting, you will find
keen enjoyment in this ancient sport.

Making
the tackle is simple.
Size of tackle: The first thing to know is what
size of bow and length of arrow to use. This depends
entirely on your physique, and particularly
your reach. If your reach is 64 in., you can use an
arrow 25 to 26 in. long, with a bow not less than
5 ft. 3 in. from tip to tip, Fig. 5. The weight of the
bow, that is, the number of pounds pull required
to draw it, depends on your muscular development.
Most men can draw a 50 to 60-lb. bow, but
a 35 to 40-lb. bow is the best weight for general
shooting, and good scores can be made with the
25 and 30-pounders.

The long bow has a deep or "stacked" body, which is generally recognized as the best type of bow shape.

The flat bow is easier to make than the long one and can be 3-4 inches shorter for the same arrow size.